Description: Valor, courage, and betrayal come to the fore
in this remarkable epic that shows the everyday realities of
wartime life from a deeply personal perspective. Billed as a
German Band of Brothers, GENERATION WAR vividly depicts the
lives of five young German friends forced to navigate the
unconscionable moral compromises of life under Hitler. In
Berlin in 1941, on the eve of Hitler s invasion of the
Soviet Union, level-headed officer Wilhelm (Volker Bruch) is
full of patriotic fervor as he heads for the eastern front
with his sensitive younger brother Friedhelm (Tom
Schilling). Charlotte (Miriam Stein) is a young nurse in
love with Wilhelm who is serving in the Red Cross. Greta (Katherina
Schüttler) is an ambitious singer who longs to become
another Marlene Dietrich, while her boyfriend Viktor (Ludwig
Trepte) faces a daily struggle for survival as a Jew in an
increasingly oppressive regime. These five exceptional young
actors infuse their characters with the certainty of youth,
which drains away with each successive month of war as the
true horrors of the Third Reich are slowly revealed. At
nearly every moment, they are faced with choices between
complicity and rebellion, self-preservation and
self-sacrifice, blood on their hands and love in their
hearts. Eight years in the making and filmed on over 150
sets across Germany, Lithuania and Latvia, GENERATION WAR
insightfully reveals a country still grappling with how
previous generations could have become so tragically
misdirected. In Germany, the film has sparked a passionate
discussion about personal responsibility and the legacy of
guilt for Nazi atrocities. German critics have widely
praised the film, with Der Spiegel calling GENERATION WAR a
"turning point in German television" and national newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung describing it as "the first and last
chance... to ask our grandparents about their true
biographies, their immoral compromises...the missed chances
to act.

The Series:

Mr. Kadelbach, the director, has clearly studied the work of
Steven Spielberg. He crosscuts deftly between scenes,
alternating moments of tense violence with stretches of
solitude and tenderness. Battles are staged with “Saving
Private Ryan”-like intensity and precision, and the
whole narrative — shifting from the mud and ice of Russia in
winter to the wheat fields of Ukraine, the forests of Poland
and the streets of the German capital — has a sweep and a
vigor that recall “Gone
With the Wind” and other old Hollywood costume
epics.

The characters are sharply drawn (by a lively and uniformly
excellent cast), their contrasting temperaments providing a
pleasing, if not terribly challenging, sense of human
variety. Greta is high-strung and passionate. Viktor is
wary, excitable and perpetually unshaven. Friedhelm is timid
and bookish, a mama’s boy whose stiff-necked father favors
the manly and decisive Wilhelm. He and Charly, fair-haired
and upright, are like Nazi propaganda posters brought to
life and softened up for modern, liberal audiences. They
exude a quiet pride in their own virtue.

Small acts of courage, mercy and self-sacrifice bob now and then to the
surface. But Generation War holds the line admirably in showing
how totalitarianism corrupts almost everything in its path, individual
responsibility included, and creates an appalling space where sadists
and conformists alike can flourish and break every rule of war at will.

In this regard, communism fares only a little better than fascism in
Generation War — which is why this bracing movie ought to be
required viewing not just in Germany, where it was seen and hotly
debated by more than 7 million viewers, but wherever absolutism holds
sway.

Image : NOTE:The below
Blu-ray
captures were taken directly from the
Blu-ray
disc.

Firstly, this is a gorgeously shot series by cinematographer David Slama and looks fabulous on
Blu-ray
from
Music Box Films. The package features 2
dual-layered
Blu-ray
discs - the first containing parts 1 + 2, and the second
containing the 3rd part and some extras. The total
time is over 4 1/2-hours for the complete mini-series. Quality is
consistent for all three parts with a similarly strong
bitrate. Everything looks flawless in 1080P supporting
a rich, saturated style with deep black levels. The series includes
stock, and stock-like, black and white cinematography and
looks quite different from the rest. The image is, as
you might expect, pristinely clean. Colors are true without
embellishment. The art-direction is meticulous. Contrast exhibits healthy black levels and some
minor depth in the 1.78:1, broadcast, frame. It
showcases impressive detail in close-ups and I see no noise
or digital manipulations. This
Blu-ray
probably looks like exactly the TV presentation.
It seems devoid of imperfections of any kind and can,
frequently, look amazing.

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY
CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

Audio :

Audio comes via a DTS-HD Master 5.1 surround at 2408 kbps in original
German. There are plenty of the sounds of war from extensive gunfire to
explosions and more. The aggression can be intense and the lossless
track handles it exporting an effective punch with impressive depth. The
score is by Fabian Römer, a composer who has done a lot of TV work in
Germany. It stays fairly subtle in the background supporting the film
and sounding clean and crisp. There are optional English
subtitles and my Oppo
has identified both discs as being a region 'A'-locked.

Extras :

Supplements
include a 2-minute Recap prior to part 2 on the first
Blu-ray. On disc 2, there is a 20-minute
Master Class Panel with the filmmakers answering question (in German
with English subtitles.) There are also some trailers - a theatrical, an
'international' one and some from other Music Box Films offerings.

BOTTOM LINE:

I found my appeal for Generation War meandering a bit
as the series progressed.
The 'soapy' aspects seemed out-of-touch at times but the overall
impact was very strong. Of course, as the series progresses
you also your bond cements further with the 5 major
characters. A lot of effort went into this mini-series and
it shows. Yes, it has some similarities to US-developed 'war
series' but I think it makes enough distinction to be
recognized on its own merits. The
Blu-ray package provides an excellent a/v presentation. For those keen on
war dramas, I would consider this a
'don't hesitate'. This offers a lot of value. It is
quite exceptionally written and we give a strong
recommendation!

Gary Tooze

May 5th, 2014

Available in the UK and Germany on Blu-ray:

About the Reviewer: Hello, fellow Beavers! I have been
interested in film since I viewed a Chaplin festival on
PBS when I was around 9 years old. I credit DVD with
expanding my horizons to fill an almost ravenous desire
to seek out new film experiences. I currently own
approximately 9500 DVDs and have reviewed over 5000
myself. I appreciate my
discussion Listserv for furthering my film
education and inspiring me to continue running
DVDBeaver. Plus a healthy thanks to those who donate and
use our Amazon links.

Although I never wanted to become one of those guys who
focused 'too much' on image and sound quality - I
find HD is swiftly pushing me in that direction.